Just Open Your Eyes
by Griffin Stone
Summary: (Major season seven spoilers) In the aftermath of the battle, the paladins are found and brought to the Garrison to heal. It should be a joyful time as they start to recover with their families, but something is wrong. Lance isn't waking up.
1. He Won't Wake Up

**A/N: I binge-watched the last half of season seven (have I mentioned spoiler alert yet?) and it was amazing. So amazing, that I had to go and write some Langst. Hopefully all the timing fits the canon scenes.**

 **I'll try and get a better cover done soon.**

* * *

The lions were falling.

" _They can't be_." The thought flashed through Shiro's mind as he watched the five colored shapes free-falling closer.

"Paladins, come in!" Coran yelled into the comms.

"Communications are down," Sam reported. "I'm working to override the hanger for the MFE fighters now to intercept."

The lions had already entered the atmosphere. They showed no signs of slowing as their flight paths drifted apart.

"Lance!" Veronica yelled, standing.

No one spoke again as the lions plummeted. Within seconds, all struck the ground with muffled booms, throwing dirt and debris everywhere.

For a minute, static was the only sound in the Atlas' bridge. Coran slowly stood. Shiro turned.

"Commander Holt, do you have the hanger doors open yet?"

"Just a tick… yes, now I do."

"The MFE's are ready to go," Griffin said.

"MFE pilots, stand by. I need a ride to the Black Lion," Shiro said.

Coran turned. "I must check on Allura."

"I need to see Pidge," Sam said.

"I have the captain," Griffin said. "Rizavi, take Coran to the Blue Lion. Lief, you and Commander Holt find the Green Lion. Kinkade, reports already show Hunk's family approaching the Yellow Lion. Go help them. Veronica-"

"I'll take a rover to find Lance," Veronica said.

"That's what I was going to say."

"Iverson, you have the bridge," Shiro said before he and the others left.

* * *

Five rescue teams raced for the fallen lions.

The Black Lion was sprawled in the remains of the Garrison Base. Black willingly opened her mouth to Shiro, who felt the barest tickle on the back of his mind. Black was tired and hurt, but he had protected Keith.

Coran found the Blue Lion floating gently in the ocean. He gently removed Allura from the cockpit and left, thanking Blue and promising to return to retrieve her.

It took an hour of hacking through brush to reach Green. The smallest lion seemed to rumble at Sam as he carefully climbed into her mouth that had jammed open. He extracted his daughter, grateful to find her breathing.

Yellow actually tried to shift around to allow access more easily, but the massive lion was obviously drained. A dozen of the former prisoners helped Kinkade get the mouth open, and Hunk's family carried him out.

Veronica found the Red Lion alone. His mouth gaped and she ran inside. Lance was slumped in his seat, pale and shaking. It took almost a minute for Veronica to find his pulse. Twenty minutes later, Griffin arrived to help move Lance.

The brave paladins were brought to the Atlas' infirmary, until a proper hospital could be found. Their friends and family surrounded them, glad to have their kids back and all together.

Everything was going to be fine.

* * *

Between the efforts of the humans and resistance contacted by Shiro, Earth started to rebuild quickly. It wasn't long before the paladins were moved to into a hospital on the Garrison grounds.

It had been a week, in which all the paladins had remained unconscious. Scans by Coran showed their natural quintessence was slowly replenishing. A week after the battle against the mech, the lions had recovered enough that they aided in their paladin's recovery.

Keith was the first one to awaken. He opened his eyes to find Krolia seated at his feet, and Kolivan against the back wall.

"Mom," Keith rasped.

Krolia teared up and grabbed her son in a hug, while Kolivan left to tell the others.

Hunk was the next to revive and remained conscious twenty minutes longer than Keith's first ten. His lion could withstand more of a beating than the others, so it was no surprise that he recovered the quickest.

Allura woke a day after Keith and Hunk. Coran was right there waiting, as was Romelle and the mice. Coran tenderly hugged her, just plain relieved to feel her breathing strongly and listening to her weakly ask for an explanation.

Pidge being the next one, two days after Allura, came as a bit of a surprise. Green was the smallest lion, and Pidge was often hardest hit and slowest to recover.

Still, her family wasn't about to complain. Matt had returned the previous day, and was there with his parents and the dog when Pidge finally pried her eyes open. She was weak, but her sarcasm was already going full strength and Matt actually had to hold her down when she insisted on checking on Green.

And Lance… Lance wasn't waking up.

* * *

Veronica sat at Lance's bedside, holding her brother's hand. Behind her, she could hear the joyful news that Hunk was already sitting up and talking, four days after he first woke up.

Besides Lance, she was alone. She had insisted the rest of the family go back to their Garrison quarters. Sitting in the silent room alone was depressing, but not nearly as bad as seeing her mother's desperate eyes or her father's clenched fists.

Footsteps made her turn, and she saw Shiro enter the room. His eyes went to Lance, then he took a seat beside Veronica.

"Any change?" Shiro asked.

Veronica shook her head. "He's just… laying there. Sometimes I am sure his heart stops, then it goes again."

Shiro put his mechanical hand on Veronica's shoulder. "Your brother is a fighter. He'll be fine."

Veronica looked at her and Lance's linked hands. "He was so badly injured when we were going after the Zaiforge canon."

Shiro's hand tightened on her shoulder. "What?"

"Didn't you know?" Veronica frowned at Shiro. "When the other four paladins summoned their lions, Lance and I were attacked. We were nearly killed, and would have died if the Red Lion hadn't arrived."

"I knew something had happened, but he dropped you off without mentioning... " Shiro closed his eyes, then opened them. "That is probably why he is taking so much longer to wake up."

Veronica's gaze turned to Lance's pale face. "Perhaps…"

* * *

A week after he woke up, Keith was on his feet and walking the Garrison with Krolia's help. Hunk was already moving freely on his own, and Allura was close behind. Pidge couldn't stand for long periods of time, but after being carried to Green by Matt, she felt stronger.

The four paladins met together with Shiro, Coran, Matt, Sam, and Colleen two weeks and one day after waking up for the first time. Pidge and Allura had to remain seated, but it didn't dim their excitement to see each other out and about.

They chatted about the battle, but mostly about the rebuilding that had been going on outside of their windows and all across the world. Everyone's family had been found safe, and were staying at the Garrison until the paladins had fully recovered.

Allura was the first to notice Lance's absence.

"Where is Lance?" Allura abruptly asked Shiro.

Shiro and Coran glanced at each other. Hunk's comment about Lance probably just being with his family died on his lips when he saw their expressions.

"What happened to Lance?" Keith asked firmly.

"Is he here?" Hunk asked, realizing with horror that he hadn't seen his best friend since the battle.

"He's here," said a voice from the doorway. Everyone turned to see Veronica. "He's just… not waking up."

Allura pushed herself to her feet. "What do you mean?"

Veronica waved for them to follow. She slowly led them to Lance's room, where Lance's parents and cousins had gathered around the bed. The family looked up, then wordlessly moved outside the room.

Issues with Lance's breathing had prompted the hospital staff to keep an oxygen mask over Lance's mouth. He had IV's in his arms to provide hydration and nutrients, but he was still so much thinner than normal. He was pale, and laying too still for such an energetic boy.

Allura quickly knelt at Lance's side and took his hand. It was cool, with only a trace of warmth.

"How long has he been like this?" Allura asked as tears flooded her eyes.

"Since the battle," Veronica said. "I almost couldn't find a pulse at first, and his heart has stopped twice since."

"His quintessence isn't replenishing as it should," Coran said, picking up a holo-pad from the bedside table.

Pidge, who was supported on either side by Matt and Sam, took the holo-pad. It showed an outline of Lance's body. The white light symbolizing quintessence was a dull glow in the center of his chest.

"Shouldn't his body have replenished enough by now?" Hunk asked.

"Everything his body creates goes straight to healing his body. Lance took quite a beating, he needs more quintessence than his body can create," Coran said.

"What about Red?" Keith asked.

Coran shrugged helplessly. "The Red Lion has recovered as well as the other lions. Perhaps Lance's injuries are so bad that even with the Red Lion's assistance, his quintessence isn't replenishing as it should."

"But it is replenishing, right? Just more slowly than it did for us?" Hunk asked. "Lance will be fine, it will just be a bit longer, right?"

The silence following Hunk's desperate question was broken when Pidge gave a choked sob, slipping from her family's grasp to fall to the floor.

"Pidge!" Matt cried.

Matt and Sam crouched, but Pidge lifted the holo-pad to show it's data was cause of her collapse.

"This has been tracking Lance's quintessence since the battle. It hasn't been building, not even slowly. It's dissipating," Pidge said.

Allura turned to her. "You can't mean…"

Veronica spoke up through welling tears. "Lance is dying."


	2. Searching for Answers

Allura's hand tightened around Lance's. She wished that she could supply Lance with the quintessence he needed, like she had at the Omega Shield. But even after two weeks, she and Blue barely had enough for themselves, never mind how much Lance would need.

The others were talking, clambering over how they hadn't noticed. Shiro and Coran spoke soothingly. Allura slowly focused on the conversation.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Keith demanded, then lowered his head when he realized how harsh it sounded.

"What could you have done, Keith?" Veronica asked. "You needed to focus on healing yourselves."

"How… how long?" Allura asked painfully.

"The doctors are giving him a week," Veronica said quietly.

Hunk started shaking and had to sit on the edge of the bed. Colleen's hand went to her mouth, and Sam quietly wrapped an arm around her. Keith numbly lowered himself to the ground as Shiro's expression became more grim. Coran put his hand on Allura's shoulder. Tears tracked down the younger Altean's cheeks.

"He can't die," Pidge mumbled through her own tears. "After all we've been through these last two years, he can't just _die!_ "

Pidge stumbled to her feet and out the door, with Matt following. Everyone else was too much in shock to move.

Lance's family slowly filed back in. Allura turned to them, trying to blink away her tears and put on a brave face. The others attempted the same, though most ended up staring at the ground.

A young boy with messy brown hair pulled away from his mother's hand and went to Allura's side. He took Allura's free hand and stared up at her with firm brown eyes.

"It's okay to cry," the boy said.

Maybe it was because his face reminded her of Lance, but Allura felt tears rise anew. She gave the boy a shaky smile and raised her arm -the boy still held her hand- to wipe her eyes.

The boy let go of Allura's hand to pull off his blue scarf. "Here."

Allura gave a teary laugh as she wiped her eyes. As she went to hand back the scarf, she noticed the boy's eyes filling with tears. She reached out and gently wiped his face.

The boy abruptly leaned forward and wrapped his small arms around Allura. She started in surprise, then tucked her free arm around his middle.

"Uncle Lance will be fine, right?" the boy asked.

Allura raised her eyes before responding. The McClain family and her teammates had moved together in comfort. Even Pidge and Matt had returned, and were being held in the embrace of Lance's mother.

"Your uncle is a fighter," Allura said to the boy, though loud enough for everyone to hear. "If anyone can pull through this, it is Lance."

* * *

The Holt family retreated into the family's lab, desperately searching for some way to help Lance. Veronica stopped by whenever she could pull herself away from Lance. Coran, Romelle, and Hunk scoured the data from the Castle. Keith, Krolia, and Kolivan got in contact with as many of the Blade of Marmora as they could, hoping someone might have some clues. Shiro, with his new leadership roles, couldn't help as often as he liked, but he dropped by Lance's room as often as he could.

Allura had attempted to help with the Castle's data, but she often became distracted. More often than not, she would wander out of the room. No one stopped her, and she always found herself at Lance's room.

The McClain family welcomed her every time in gathering around Lance's bed. She had learned their names by now, and Lance's mother had insisted on Allura calling her "Ma McClain."

In this way, two more days passed without any change for the better in Lance.

* * *

Allura and Ma McClain sat on opposite sides of Lance's bed, holding either of his hands. They were alone for now, the other adults having taken the kids to eat. Veronica was in the data room.

Allura softly ran her fingers over the back of Lance's hand. It disturbed her to see Lance lay so still and quiet. Even his breathing was disturbingly low.

"Lance had always dreamed of going to space," Ma McClain suddenly said in her softly accented voice.

"He certainly achieved that," Allura said with a smile. "I wonder… if Lance had known what would happen when he went to rescue Shiro, if he would have done it again."

"He would. Lance has always thought about others. If he knew that Earth would need him… well, nothing could have held him back."

"Lance was always thinking about others," Allura agreed. "He always knew what to say to comfort me."

"That's my Lance," Ma McClain said. " _Mi nino._ " Ma McClain raised the hand holding Lance's to press against her mouth. " _Vuelve a mi._ "

Allura reached her free hand across Lance's bed. Ma McClain took it, linking the three of them together. Neither moved for a long time.

* * *

The next day, Allura left the Garrison building. She was too distracted by her thoughts to help research, and wanted to let Lance's family be with him without her for a time.

Unsurprisingly, Allura's feet led her to Blue. Her lion, like the others, were crouched outside the Garrison grounds.

Blue purred in welcome and lowered her head. Allura walked inside to the cockpit and settled in the pilot's seat. She closed her eyes and laid her head back, questions plaguing her.

Why hadn't Lance recovered like the others? Had he really been so badly injured? Had some of the injuries come before the final battle? None of the others had suffered from such major injury, so why had Lance?

Allura thought back to the previous day. After speaking with Ma McClain, she had compared Lance's medical record since the battle to the others.

Like everyone else, Lance's quintessence had been significantly drained. Some of the others had suffered concussions, bruised ribs, or bruises, primarily from the crash to Earth. Lance had several broken ribs, burns, and the worst concussion of them all. How had he gotten so badly hurt? _When_ had he gotten so badly hurt? In Sendak's prison? No, none of them had been hurt there. What was different about Lance?

Allura unconsciously kneaded her forehead. Even with those injuries, they shouldn't be fatal for a human. She had seen the team suffer worse and recover quickly, even without the cryo-pods. Yes, he was worsening because his little quintessence was being focused on healing, but with a lion backing him, quintessence shouldn't have been an issue.

Blue rumbled in her mind, sounding less comforting and more urgent. She was pressing at Allura, trying to tell her something.

"What is it, Blue?" Allura asked without opening her eyes.

Blue's flow of quintessence increased briefly to Allura, then Blue sent a repeat of the feeling. Allura focused on the quintessence, noticing that Blue was helping her to feel the quintessence of everything around her. Allura smiled as she observed the quintessence flowing from Blue to her, then focused on the other things around her.

She could sense the quintessence in the Black and Green Lion's on either sides of Blue, flowing to their paladins. Like Blue, the lions' quintessence was severely depleted, but they still gave what they could to their paladins.

Perhaps Red was having an issue with his quintessence like Lance, and couldn't aid Lance like the other lions.

Silently thanking Blue, Allura stood. She left the lion and walked around to where Red was crouched. She closed her eyes and felt for Red's quintessence. She reeled back in shock, eyes snapping open.

While nothing compared to when he was fully healed, Red's store of quintessence was vast compared to the other lions.

Allura let her senses wander as she thought. If the quintessence wasn't the issue, then what could be?

After a moment, Allura felt something wrong. She frowned and tried to hone in on the exact problem. She compared Red's quintessence to Yellow's, who was crouched beside him. Was the quintessence tainted? No, they felt the same.

It took five long minutes of comparing the lions before the answer struck Allura. She gasped, stepping backward into someone. They grabbed her arms to steady her, and she vaguely registered Shiro's voice asking her if she was alright. Allura couldn't respond to Shiro, but pulled herself upright and walked closer to the other lions.

She closed her eyes, feeling for the lions' quintessence and the flow extending past her reach, to their paladins. She paced back to Red, eyes still closed and hearing Shiro follow. She reached Red, and opened her eyes to stare up in confusion and fear.

Blue, Black, Green, and Yellow all had quintessence flowing out of them. None was coming from Red. None of his quintessence was being shared with Lance!

* * *

 **A/N: The lines in Spanish are from Google translate, so I'm sorry if the wording is strange for any Spanish readers. A guest review corrected me on some of my Spanish (I couldn't figure out how to get the squiggle, sorry) so hopefully it is better now.**

 ** _Mi nino=_ My baby boy**

 ** _Vuelve a mi=_ Come back to me**


	3. No One to Blame But Himself

**A/N: Double wow. I just made so many people mad at Red... Welp, enjoy the story!**

 **Also, no swearing in the comments please? Even the half-swears, only quiznak is preferred.**

* * *

"We have been looking for answers in all the wrong places!"

Hunk, Coran, Veronica, and Romelle looked up from their data pads. Allura stood at the door with her arms spread wide. Shiro and the Holts were behind her, and Keith and Krolia had just arrived.

"What do you mean?" Coran asked.

"We've been searching for places that all of Lance's quintessence is going, when we should have been looking into why it wasn't there in the first place," Allura said.

"I'm afraid I don't understand," Sam said. He glanced at Shiro, who shrugged.

"The only reason we paladins survived was because their lions protected them. We recovered so quickly because the lions have been sharing their limited quintessence," Allura said.

"I know that. But Lance has had the same treatment," Hunk said.

Allura shook her head. "I just checked the lions. I can sense the quintessence flowing from the lions into us. Red has a store of quintessence, and not one shred is going to Lance."

Four data-pads hit the table at once. The beaker Matt had been holding slipped from his fingers and shattered on the ground.

"Red was always stubborn, but why would he keep back quintessence that Lance needs?" Keith asked.

"The Red Lion has always been the most protective of lions, even if it takes time to show," Coran furthered. "He wouldn't just abandon Lance."

"He has now," Allura stated bluntly.

"Did the Red Lion reject Lance as a paladin? Why?" Veronica asked, angry tears filling her eyes.

"All I know is that the Red Lion isn't providing Lance with any quintessence," Allura said.

"Is there any other way to give Lance quintessence?" Pidge asked.

"Quintessence isn't supposed to be transferred. The komar ripped quintessence from living things, and a bond between lion and paladin is so close that they shared quintessence anyway. The only time I have seen quintessence shared willingly within two separate living creatures was at the Omega Shield," Allura said thoughtfully.

The paladins and Shiro looked at each other, then back to Allura. Hunk hesitantly spoke up.

"What happened at the Omega Shield?"

Allura stared at them. They didn't know? She hadn't mentioned it, figuring Lance would. Apparently, he hadn't to even Hunk.

"Do you all remember when Lance pushed me out of the way of the electrical burst?"

"Um, sort of," Hunk said. "I was holding the plates together, and Pidge and Shiro were inside."

"Well." Allura cleared her throat. "The electrical surge through Red was so intense that Lance…" Allura paused, wondering if there was any... _less blunt_ way to put it. "Lance died."

"He _what?!_ " Everyone screamed.

"How is he still here?" Matt demanded.

"Blue and I transferred some of our quintessence into Lance, and we were able to get his heart started again," Allura said, uncomfortable at having to reveal this herself.

"Allura, you could have killed yourself doing that!" Coran said.

"I had Blue," Allura said firmly.

Veronica dropped her head into her hands and muttered something under her breath.

Coran glanced at Veronica. "What was that?"

"I said," Veronica lifted her head, "You all don't pay very good attention to your teammates, do you? Or is it just Lance in particular? Lance quiznakin' _died_! He nearly died protecting me at the Ziaforge cannon, and none of you even knew!"

"He never said-" Hunk squeaked out.

"No, he just drops out of contact at the drop of the hat for no reason but the fun of it!" Veronica seethed, the fear of the last couple weeks lashing out in anger. "You all say you know Lance, but do you?"

Veronica had a good deal more to say, but her words were cut off by a massive roar. The building shook briefly, then all was still.

"It's Red!" Keith said, knowing which lion it was by his connection with Black.

"Lance!" Allura exclaimed.

* * *

Everyone ran to Lance's room. Panic spiked in the group when they saw doctors filing out, only calming down when they found Lance still breathing.

"His heart stopped again," Ma McClain said by way of explanation.

Veronica crossed the room to take Lance's hand. She bowed her head and closed her eyes for a long time before turning back to the others. Her earlier fury was gone, replaced by fear.

"Find out what is wrong with the Red Lion, please," Veronica pleaded.

"Uh, nothing is wrong with the Red Lion," Lance's brother Marco said. He pointed at the window. "He's right there."

Indeed, Red's face was close to the window, his glowing eyes filling the room with a dull glow. His massive paws were positioned carefully between the half-constructed buildings below with his body angled to the side to accommodate.

"Red is here?" Allura inquired. She closed her eyes to concentrate for a moment.

"He appeared seconds after Lance's heart stopped," Marco said.

The non-family members looked at each other then left the room. Veronica laid Lance's hand back down and followed them to the data room. They all stood numbly around the room.

Veronica was the first to voice her confusion. "So has he reclaimed Lance as his paladin? Why would he reject him in the first place?"

"Whatever the reason for Red's appearance, his quintessence still isn't reaching Lance," Allura said.

"Wait, what do you mean it 'isn't reaching Lance?'" Shiro asked.

"I felt Red's quintessence when we were in the room. It is spreading out to Lance, but it isn't being absorbed by him."

"How is that even possible?" Pidge asked. "Is something blocking it? Should we open a window? ...Forget I said that."

"Could you take Red's quintessence and put it into Lance? Like you did with Black and I," Shiro said.

"Transferring quintessence and consciousnesses two living things are very different accomplishments," Allura said.

Coran nodded sagely, while the humans looked at each other and shrugged.

"I'll go back to Lance's room, and see if I can figure something out," Allura said with a sigh.

"We'll keep researching," Coran said.

* * *

Allura and Veronica slowly made their way toward Lance's room.

"You really care for him, don't you?" Veronica suddenly said.

"Hm, you mean Lance? Well, he is a good friend and teammate, and…" Allura shook her head. "And I do care for him beyond friendship."

"So does he. Though he's so blatant about it, you'd have to be pretty dense to not notice," Veronica said with a hint of a challenge.

"I admit that I often brushed his flirting aside. He flirted with every girl, you know."

"That's Lance."

"But… he has matured since we first met. He doesn't flirt nearly as much anymore."

Veronica nodded. "He feels the same as you, though."

Allura blushed. "What makes you think so?"

Veronica adjusted her glasses. "Sister's intuition."

The pair laughed softly together, but their mood sobered when they reached Lance's room. If possible, the mood in the room had only gotten lower. No one was speaking, just staring at Lance. Red was still at the window.

The family glanced up at Allura and Veronica. Marco stood from his chair beside Lance and offered it to Allura, who gratefully took it. She put a hand on Lance's and closed her eyes.

From Red's reaction to Lance's heart stopping, he had to still be connected to Lance in some way. Allura turned her attention to comparing Red's quintessence with Lance's wavering quintessence.

Allura didn't move for a long time. While she concentrated, everyone else came and went. Lance's family took shifts in watching over him, paladins checked in, the older Holts and Coran studied the data from the machines monitoring Lance, the MFE pilots even stopped in on occasion. The only ones that didn't move was Allura and Red.

Hours later, as the light from outside turned orange, Allura shifted in her seat. Veronica, seated nearby, jumped at the motion. Shiro, the only other person in the room, looked at Allura.

Allura sighed slightly without opening her eyes. She could find nothing wrong with either Lance or Red's quintessence, or anything that could be stopping their connection.

"Come on, Red," Allura murmured. "Try."

To Allura's surprise, she sensed a thread of quintessence flow from Red. It moved slowly, almost hesitantly, completely contradictory to Red's personality. It moved over Lance, and Allura subconsciously turned her head to follow it.

"That's it," Allura said with a smile.

The smile vanished, though, when Red's quintessence dipped closer to Lance. Lance's own quintessence seemed to shrink up, shifting away from Red's. Allura leaned forward and reached out a hand, as if she could guide the quintessence to Lance.

Something was beeping, but Allura ignored it, mentally imploring Red to connect with Lance to give him the quintessence he needed.

Red's quintessence hovered for a moment, then dropped closer to Lance. The small, dull light of Lance's quintessence flaired, and Red's jerked away as if struck. Allura jolted back at the abruptness, jolting back to reality when her chair crashed to the ground.

 _Beeeee-eeee!_

"Allura!"

Allura's eyes snapped open. She was flat on her back with Shiro standing over her. Veronica yelled Lance's name. A doctor rushed into the room, then yelled for someone else. A bunch of people rushed into the room in a blur. Someone started to cry. Red roared.

All the while, a persistent beep pierced the air.

When Allura fully returned to her senses, she was sitting on a bench outside of Lance's room. Shiro and Coran were on either side of her, and the other paladins had just arrived.

"Lance!" Allura said, startling everyone when she snapped out of her daze. "What happened?"

"You tell us," Shiro said. "You were reaching out above Lance, but then Lance stopped breathing. You fell backwards, Red jerked away, and Lance's heart stopped."

"Is he-"

"He's stable now, but they had to put tubes in," Shiro said. "What happened in there?"

"I don't know," Allura said, shaking her head. "Everything was going fine. Red was ready to give his quintessence to Lance, but…"

Hunk glanced in Lance's room, where the boy was once again surrounded by family, then back to Allura. "What?"

Allura raised fearful eyes. "The problem isn't that Red isn't giving his quintessence to Lance, but that Lance is rejecting it."

* * *

 **A/N: Hopefully this is making as much sense as a trans-reality, fantastical state of mind that transcends all physical form, can. I dunno, I had an idea and ran with it.**


	4. Everything We'd Rather Not Talk About

**A/N: Not much happening in this chapter. Hope nothing comes across as abrupt. (If it does, please let me know!)**

* * *

The conscious paladins, Shiro, Coran, and Matt retreated to the data room. For a long time, they simply stared at each other.

"How can Lance be rejecting Red's quintessence?" Pidge finally asked.

"The connection between a lion and paladin requires the acceptance of both sides," Coran said. "Although I can't say I have heard of a _paladin_ not allowing the connection."

Keith snorted, a smirk creeping onto his lips. "Yeah. It's usually the lion being stubborn."

"Okay, but if Allura -who isn't connected with him like Red- can put _her_ quintessence into Lance, why can Red suddenly not?" Hunk said.

"Lance was accepting of quintessence at the Omega Shield," Allura said.

"You said he died," Matt pointed out. "How does that matter, no matter how much quintessence Allura had to give?"

"Um, Allura did put Shiro's consciousness into the dead body of a clone," Pidge said.

Matt's eyes darted to Shiro, then back to Pidge. "I retract my question, and _really_ wish I could forget the answer."

"But Matt does have a point," Pidge said, turning to Allura.

"When a person dies, there is a slim window in which they can still be saved," Allura said. "At the Omega Shield, I was there in doboshes. With Shiro's clone, the situation was different, simply because of the nature of the clone's, er… origin."

"The question," Shiro said, cutting into the discussion of the paladins, "Isn't _how_ Lance's body can reject the quintessence, but _why?_ "

"If we knew the why, maybe that would solve the how?" Hunk said.

"It's been three days," Keith said, spreading his hands across the table in the data room. "Allura's discovery gives us nothing."

"But it does," said Veronica's voice.

The team turned to see Veronica leaning against the doorframe. She straightened and walked into the room, looking at each paladin in turn.

"Why did Lance never mention dying at the Omega Shield? Why didn't he say that he was hurt after the Ziaforge cannon attack?" Veronica turned to Shiro. "And why did no one notice?"

"He never mentions those things," Hunk said.

"Lance never cared," Keith said at the same time.

"Never cared, or thought _no one_ cared?"

The paladins started to protest, but Shiro spoke quietly, silencing them.

"Lance was always the most insecure of his position as a paladin."

Keith laced his fingers together and rested his chin on them. "When Shiro -fake Shiro- came back, Lance suggested leaving the team himself."

"He wouldn't!" Hunk said.

Keith leveled a tired look at Hunk. "Wouldn't he? If he thought someone more capable was there to take his position, wouldn't he step aside without a second thought?"

"But that isn't logical," Pidge protested. "We're all a team. Lance knew he belonged with us!"

"With us, yes, but as a paladin?" Allura said. "Lance isn't giving up on life, he's giving up on connecting with Red."

"But unconscious or not, he has to know that doing so will kill him," Keith said.

"Not necessarily," Shiro said. "When I died and Black absorbed my essence, it took me days to realize that I had actually died. It felt like only a day had passed before Keith was chosen, but it had been… weeks?"

"Months," Keith said.

"It's possible that Lance is on the astral plane, like I was when I died and like we all go when we have issues with our quintessence. If he is there, he might not be aware of what is going on with his physical body."

"So we have to go to the astral plane and tell him?" Pidge suggested.

"More than that," Keith said firmly. "We have to make sure he knows that, no matter what he thinks, he is a paladin of Voltron."

"That plan holds risks," Allura said, drawing everyone's attention. "When Red tried to give his quintessence to Lance, the rejection was too much of a shock to Lance's body. That is why his heart stopped."

"You're saying that going to Lance on the astral plane could have the same affect?" Pidge asked. "His heart could stop?"

"I don't think Lance has it in him to come back another time," Shiro said quietly.

The team slumped in their seats. Veronica slapped a hand on the table, making them jump.

"Do it," Veronica said.

Allura turned wide eyes to her. "But Lance-"

"Won't make it much longer with his current condition," Veronica interrupted. "Unless you have any ideas for a less risky plan, I think you should do this."

The others looked around at each other, then slowly nodded in agreement. Everyone stood to return to Lance. Matt cleared his throat, causing them to pause.

"While we are on the topic of near-deaths and not mentioning them," Matt said, raising his brows at Keith. "Maybe we should mention what happened on Naxcella."

"No," Keith said immediately. He winced when everyone looked at him, and muttered, "Maybe later."

Shiro pointed at Keith. "After this is all over, I am getting the full story out of you if I have to force it out."

* * *

The paladins, Shiro, Coran, Matt, and Veronica returned to Lance's room. His family barely acknowledged their presence aside from shifting closer together to let the others see Lance.

Lance was like a skeleton under the sheet, and his skin was as white as the walls. The mechanical hum of the ventilator replaced Lance's raspy gasps. He had tubes up his nose and in his arms, and wires from his arms to the monitors beeping slowly away.

Allura turned away, and looked at the window that had been opened for an evening breeze. Red's head blotted out most of the sky, but Allura could still glimpse the glow of the setting sun.

"What are you doing?" Marco asked as the paladins positioned themselves on the side of the bed closest to the window.

"We want to try something to help Lance," Allura said.

Marco must have heard Allura's hesitation. "What are you trying?"

Allura started to speak, but Veronica took over. She explained what she could about Lance being on the quintessence field, and how the paladins would try to bring them back. She gave her family the risks.

"We won't do it, unless you agree," Allura promised.

The McClains talked quietly for a moment, then turned to the paladins. While some of them obviously struggled against tears, they all gave their agreement.

" _Por favor._ Bring _mi nino_ back to us," Ma McClain pleaded.

"We will do everything we can," Allura said. She glanced at the other paladins. "Are you ready?"

Keith, already with his eyes clenched shut, nodded shortly. Pidge had dared to open her eyes briefly and when she closed them, a tear tracked down her cheek. Hunk gave a very firm stare -almost a glare- directed at Lance, then nodded and closed his eyes.

Allura looked at Red staring through the window. "We're going to get him back."

Allura closed her eyes.

* * *

 **A/N: This was going to just be a two-shot... should've known better. One more chapter and maybe an epilogue? We'll see how the next chapter pans out. No guarantee that I'll be able to get out the next chapter (which will finally show Lance) tomorrow again.**


	5. Walking a Fine Line

**_A/N_ : Well, this chapter panned out much larger than I thought it would. (If you are surprised, you must be new to my stories. Hi, and welcome to where plot bunnies abound.) So, there will be another chapter.**

 **I know you were hoping for close, family-feels... I tried. It went about my normal route. -shrugs-**

 **Italicized sections are the parts that take place on the astral plane.**

* * *

 _Lance was bored._

 _He would have loved to know how Shiro went months on the astral plane alone without going crazy. The other paladins had been there at first with Lance, but disappeared one by one. That had been… an hour ago? With no way to measure the passing of time, Lance was left guessing._

 _The only plus to finding himself on the astral plane, was that at least he didn't hurt. When he had first opened his eyes to the astral plane, his entire body had been in agony. The others had been the same, but the pain had gradually faded for them all, before the others left._

 _Lance spun in a lazy circle, mentally ticking off what he had done to pass the time: chased endlessly after stars that had to be moving on their own, learned how to move vertically -at least, he thought he had, it was hard to tell- tried to count the stars, and discovered he could hold his breath for over five minutes._

 _A brief scowl took over his careless expression when he saw the blurry shape of Red. He moved away, grumbling. Every time Red appeared to him, his body started to hurt. After the last attempt, in which Lance's chest had felt on fire, he had yelled at Red to just leave him alone._

 _Red had never wanted him for a paladin. Lance had just been a necessary filler until his proper paladin could reclaim him. Shiro was back for Black, so Keith could have Red back. Why didn't the lion leave him be? He had been happy enough to leave him and Veronica with the Galra until the last second._

 _Lance shook his head. Even thinking about Red had brought a headache. He lifted his head and resumed his pursuit of a red star. While it frustrated him that the color reminded him of Red, this star somehow felt like he could actually reach it._

 _As Lance ran, he felt lighter. His steps reached further, each bound threw him further, each breath filled him with energy. He stretched out his arms, sure the star was finally within reach..._

" _Lance!"_

 _Lance stopped and turned, mouth pulling up in a grin. There were four figures about a quarter mile away. Like him, they wore paladin armor. He recognized the voice of having been Allura's._

 _Lance waved wildly. "Hey, guys!"_

" _Lance, you have to come back to us!" Hunk yelled._

" _Just a sec, I've almost got the star," Lance said, starting to turn away. He wanted to get the star, for Allura._

" _You can star-gaze later, Lance," Keith said._

 _Lance jutted his chin out. "It's star-_ chasing _! Now just hold onto your mullet, I'll be right there."_

" _You know you can't hold a star in your hands," Pidge blurted out._

 _Lance hesitated in turning. "What?"_

" _It's way too hot. You should know that, Lance," Pidge said with a know-it-all adjustment of her glasses. "Not to mention its size."_

" _No, something is telling me that this star is nice and cool. And pocket-sized," Lance said. He turned and started to walk again._

" _Quiznak, Lance, you can't just grab a star!" Keith burst out._

 _Lance sped up. "Watch me!"_

" _Wait! If you're going to insist, just-just let us help you," Keith said, his voice suddenly under control._

 _Lance stopped and looked back again. "You'd really do that?"_

 _Pidge nodded enthusiastically. "Just in case it is too big, we'll make something to hold it."_

 _Lance walked closer to the others, and was amused by how delighted it made them. He almost hadn't noticed the slight frown they all had, until they were all smiling._

 _But after a few yards, Lance didn't feel so light anymore. The headache was slowly returning. His steps slowed until he stopped._

" _Lance? Lance, why did you stop?" Hunk asked, that edge in his voice that he got when he was really scared._

 _Lance opened his mouth to explain, then closed it and resolutely marched forward. If he was hurting, then so must have the others. They were probably just nervous about Lance being far away because the astral plane might be unpredictable._

 _He managed to push through the pain until he was halfway to the others, when pain exploded in his chest. He cried out and fell to the ground, causing the others to yell._

" _Lance!"_

 _Lance lifted his head. Hunk and Keith were closer to him now, with a slight aura around them. Keith's was purple, and Hunk's was Yellow. Pidge, surrounded by a very faint green aura, had followed for a few steps, then stopped. The lions' quintessence,_ that _was how they could stand the pain._

 _Lance forced himself to his feet. The others didn't need to see his pain. He stood as cockily as he could manage and waved a hand at the others._

" _Come on. I went halfway, now it is your turn," Lance said._

" _You have to come to us," Allura said, the only one who hadn't moved._

" _Why?" Lance asked, checking over his shoulder to make sure the red star hadn't moved._

" _What do you remember from the battle with the mech-beast?" Allura asked instead of answering._

 _Lance shrugged. "We won, right?"_

" _Yes, but we were badly injured. Our consciousnesses came here while our bodies healed and our quintessence regenerated," Allura said._

" _Okay…?" Lance didn't understand what she was trying to say._

" _Do you know how long ago that was?"_

" _I don't know, an hour or two. Hey, why did you four leave before?"_

 _The other paladins exchanged surprised looks, then Hunk answered._

" _When we woke up, a week had passed for our physical bodies. For you, it has been two and a half weeks."_

 _Lance blinked. "What?"_

" _Two and a half movements," Allura said, finally taking a step. "Our lions gave us quintessence to help heal, but you haven't been accepting Red's."_

" _Oh, you're here because of_ him." _Lance scowled. "Well, you can rest easy. Keith, you can have Red back. I'm out of the way now."_

 _An impressively loud sound between a gasp, choke, and a squeak came from Pidge. She looked at Keith, then Allura, then back to Lance._

" _You aren't dead yet!" Keith said. He murmured almost too quietly to hear, "Is he?"_

" _Nope, sorry to disappoint," Lance said lightly, feeling a fresh wave of pain in his chest._

 _Hunk put a hand on Keith's shoulder, but he spoke to Lance. "You aren't dead, but you are coming very close to it. Your quintessence was drained in the battle."_

 _Lance's eyes widened at the thought, then shrugged. "That's why I'm here, though. To heal, right? I just don't have the advantage of a lion to help me heal."_

" _But you do!" Pidge yelped._

 _She stomped up beside Hunk, then promptly stumbled and nearly fell. Her aura was starting to flicker, and she was suddenly panting like she couldn't catch her breath._

 _Shock made Lance walk a couple more yards before his own breathlessness made him stop again. He watched helplessly as Hunk helped Pidge._

" _Guys, what is wrong with Pidge?"_

" _The astral plane is not entirely endless," Allura said. "Eventually, you will reach a point that you cannot return to your physical body."_

 _Lance's eyes flickered from Pidge to Allura. That may have been why Allura hadn't approached him. "Pidge hasn't crossed that point yet, has she?"_

" _No, but you nearly have," Keith said._

 _Lance snorted. "You're joking, right? If I keep walking the way you tell me to not to, I feel better."_

" _You are closer to death than we are," Allura said softly. "When the body is ready to die, it is easy to pass out of the astral plane. When our bodies are not ready, it hurts more the closer we get to the edge. Pidge's quintessence is too weak for her to be this close, when her body is healed."_

 _Lance's second attempt at a laugh was more forced. "Everything is fine, guys. Get Pidge out of here. I'll stick around here, grab that star, and be back when I feel better."_

" _Would you quit with the quiznakin' star!" Hunk snapped._

 _Lance retreated a couple steps, and felt his headache ease. Hunk's eyes immediately widened, and he held out his free hand toward Lance._

" _We aren't leaving without you," Pidge said forcefully, pushing away from Hunk. "We came to get you, we are literally standing on the edge of death, the least you could do is_ come over here!"

" _But, the star-"_

" _The time for the star will come," Pidge said. She held out a hand. "But only when we are all ready."_

 _Lance's eyes narrowed slowly. "You're saying that if I keep going after the star, I will die? But I can just walk out of here? Back to my physical body?"_

 _Pidge and Hunk glanced at each other and shrugged. Keith just looked confused, as if it was all too easy -Lance was thinking that himself. Allura had a scared frown on her face as she slowly approached the others, a blue glow beginning to surround her._

" _Yes, but it might kind of hurt," Pidge warned._

 _Lance shrugged and walked closer. Within two steps, his chest felt on fire and his head pounded so hard that his vision doubled. But, really. It was either that or dying… He forced his feet forward again and again._

 _It sure felt like he was dying with every step, though._

 _Lance didn't realize he had reached the others until Hunk grabbed him in a gentle hug. Lance fell into the embrace with a groan and burrowed his head into his friend's shoulder._

" _Okay, okay, I got you. Just hang in there, the hardest part is over. I'll carry you home, okay?" Hunk said._

 _Lance murmured in agreement. He was pretty sure even his hair hurt, the pain in his head was so bad. He whimpered when Hunk scooped him up, though he knew Hunk was being as gentle as he could._

" _Hang in there, Lance," Allura said._

 _Briefly, the hands of his teammates rested on his arm. Lance could have sworn that his arm took on the colored aura of the paladins for a brief moment, and he felt a bit stronger._

 _The bit of extra strength allowed him to lift his eyes past the paladins' worried faces. Standing over the whole group was Red, rumbling softly. His head dipped lower, and a glowing stream of of quintessence floated down toward Lance._

 _Lance yelped and jerked, throwing himself out of Hunk's arms. At least the ground of the astral plane didn't hurt to land on. Lance rolled away from Hunk and scrambled to his feet._

" _Keep Red away from me!" Lance ordered._

" _We can't bring you home alone without killing you," Pidge said. "You need Red's quintessence to survive."_

" _Then leave me here until I have enough quintessence on my own," Lance said._

" _Haven't you heard a word we've said to you?" Keith asked. "You can't get home on your own! You need Red!"_

"' _Need Red, need Red,'" Lance mocked back. "Didn't it ever occur to you that I might not want Red's help?"_

" _We got that when your heart stopped," Keith snapped back._

 _Hunk grabbed Keith's shoulder and shoved him behind himself, allowing Allura to take over._

" _Lance, we saw your physical body. Even if we could get you out of the astral plane, the shock of returning would only kill yourself. Don't let your own pride get in the way of common sense."_

" _Pride?" Lance repeated in disbelief. "Pride?! Since when did pride ever become a part of this? Is it prideful to not want to be rejected again by another lion? Is it prideful to want to move on and learn to live with myself, by myself? Is it prideful to want the guy that everyone knows would make a better paladin to have his lion back?"_

" _Ever since I was in the Garrison, I've been compared to someone else," Lance went on. "My grades were never high enough. My flying was never good enough. I was too slow, too goofy, too…_ hopeless _to pay any mind. There was always somebody to point to, and say how much more I could be like them."_

 _Lance was blinking back angry tears by now. "I thought things would change as a paladin. I thought Blue wanted me, for me. But no, she rejected me. Then Red took me like some sort of replacement. He never spoke to me like Blue, wasn't there when I needed him with Veronica. He never wanted me as a paladin. I'm no red paladin."_

" _You are the red paladin," Keith said, face showing that he honestly didn't get Lance's struggle._

" _What makes you say that? I wear the armor colors of the lion who kicked me out, piloting a lion that belongs to another. Red never wanted me. I've been in your shadow since the Garrison! I was just a convenient filler."_

" _But Red chose you," Hunk broke in with his annoyingly level voice._

" _And rejected me!" Lance spat. "Did I tell you about the Ziaforge cannon? While you were all piloting away to your cannons, Red didn't come. He didn't come until I was seconds from death! The only reason Red saved me, had to be because he doesn't want the death of another paladin on his head!"_

 _Red gave a roar that echoed sorrowfully across the plane. Lance ignored him, thrusting a finger past Hunk's shoulder and into Keith's face._

" _You are the red paladin! Red is your lion, so just take him!"_

 _Keith's eyes narrowed as he surged forward. Lance raised his hands defensively, but Keith simply grabbed his wrist and began to drag him._

" _Hey!"_

 _Lance jerked and writhed, but Keith's grip was like iron. He dragged Lance with surprising strength closer to where Red crouched. Lance planted his feet, ignoring that pain was bubbling in his chest once again, and thrust himself back._

 _Large arms encircled his chest and pushed him forward. Lance squirmed in alarm, betrayal filling him when he saw Hunk. Pidge grabbed onto Lance's other wrist and joined in the pulling._

" _No, stop!" Lance screamed, kicking at Pidge. The smaller paladin dodged away from the kick, then resumed pulling. "I don't want this! Just leave me be!"_

" _I'm sorry, Lance, but we can't," Hunk said, his voice cracking._

 _Regretful or not, Hunk's force didn't ease. Even Lance thrashed in his grip, kicking backwards and ramming his head into Hunk's ear, Hunk only mumbled apologies as he shoved Lance closer to Red._

" _Paladins!" Allura said, rushing into Lance's view. "Wait! Lance might-"_

" _I don't want this," Lance hissed between his teeth. "I. Don't. Want. This!"_

 _With each word, he gave a powerful jerk. On the last word, he shoved himself backward. A dizzying chill ran through Lance's body as the resistance suddenly vanished. He tumbled onto his back, briefly in too much pain to realize what had happened._

 _When Lance could focus again, he saw Hunk and Pidge standing over him, staring at their hands. Keith was slightly behind them, holding his head. He squinted, then realized that he could see right through them!_

" _He-hey, what's happening?" Lance asked, scrambling to his feet._

" _You didn't want them here."_

 _Allura's voice made Lance and the other three turn. Allura was standing there, completely whole. She had a solemn and sad expression on her face._

 _Lance looked at the three rapidly fading out of view. "Sorry, guys, but I've got to do this alone."_

 _Pidge's face twisted. "You aren't alone."_

" _Red is your lion," Keith stated firmly and quietly._

" _Just come back to us, man," Hunk pleaded._

 _Hunk reached out and tried to touch Lance's arm, but Hunk's hand simply passed through it. Lance flinched away from the feeling, then blinked to realize that they were gone._

" _Where did they go?" Lance asked Allura._

" _Back to their physical bodies," Allura answered._

" _Oh, good, I thought that-_ ah!"

 _Lance's statement was cut off with a scream. He fell to his knees. His hands clutched his chest over his heart, where it felt like a block of ice had settled._

 _Allura was quickly kneeling at his side. She grabbed his shoulders, but didn't try to move him. She pressed one hand over Lance's, and closed her eyes as her aura grew stronger._

* * *

"Lance!"

Pidge's eyes snapped open, her body jolting upright. She blinked and looked down at herself, realizing she was sitting in a cot.

"Katie, are you alright?"

Pidge raised her head and blinked again a couple times. Her parents and Matt were crouching in front of her. She looked around before answering, and saw she was still in Lance's room. Keith, Hunk, and Allura were laying in cots along the wall like Pidge was, all of them with a small data-pad on the cot connected to their arm by slim wires. The crowd had grown to include her parents, Hunk's family, Krolia, Kolivan, the MFE pilots, and Shay with her family. It seemed lighter outside the window, but was hard to tell past Red's head.

Pidge turned back to her family, and gave them a reassuring smile. Before she could say anything, Keith woke up with a yell.

"He's not- ugh, my head!"

Pidge looked quickly at Keith. Shiro and Krolia were crouched beside him, helping him sit up while the black paladin held his head with a grimace.

"After you entered the astral plane, you all collapsed," Shiro said to Keith. "You managed to hit your head on the bedframe."

"Oh." Keith lifted his head, embarrassed at his scream. He frowned at Krolia. "When did you get here?"

"Just this morning," Krolia said.

Keith's eyes squinted. "You left this morning to meet some other Blades of Marmora."

Hunk chose that moment to wake with a yelp and sit up. He blinked at the gathered crowd, then at Shiro.

"When did everyone get here?"

Shiro sighed and squeezed the bridge of his nose with his forefinger and thumb. "Now would probably be a good time to explain that you were all out for fifteen hours."

"B-but, we were barely in there!" Keith said.

"Well, Lance did think that only an hour had passed," Pidge said, accepting her glasses back when Matt held them out to her.

"You saw Lance?" Veronica asked.

The three conscious paladins winced at each other, then Hunk said, "Yes, but we weren't able to convince him to accept Red's help."

"Then what happened? Why did you wake up?" Veronica asked.

"I'm not totally sure," Pidge said as she swung her feet over the edge of the cot. "Allura was saying that… um, Allura, what did you mean? ...Allura?"

Everyone turned to the other cot, where Coran expectantly stood. Allura was still unconscious, though her face was clenched as if in concentration.

"Lance didn't kick her out," Pidge said in realization. "She could still bring Lance back!"

A faint beep made everyone freeze. All eyes went to the monitor beside Lance, where his pulse had become erratically slow.

"Lance! Marco, get a doctor!" While the boy ran from the room, Veronica went to Lance's side and grabbed his hand. "Lance, hang on!"

Coran suddenly ducked closer to Allura's cot. His eyes went from the data-pad to Lance's monitor. He sucked in a deep breath.

"Allura's heart is slowing down with Lance's!"

The faint beep turned into a shrill alarm, quickly drowned out by Red's roar. Half the room spun to the window in time to see Red leap into the sky. Blue was quick to take his place, roaring in her own panic at Allura.

"Red!"

Keith ripped the wires stuck to his arm away and leaped to his feet. He sprinted out of the room. The temperamental lion was Lance's only chance at surviving. Keith could only hope that Red would listen to his former paladin and return.

* * *

 **A/N: This seems like a good time to ensure that you all know that Lance isn't suicidal. I'm not sure how much he sounds like it, but that is not my intent either way. He just honestly doesn't get that he is so close to dying.**

 **Lance's rant was originally shorter, but I saw a post from someplace listing off all the things that they wanted Lance to finally let out at some point. That inspired the rant to become longer.**


	6. On the Edge of the Abyss

**A/N: I have three theories in this chapter. Two of them will _probably_ be null come season eight. Also, timing in the astral plane is wonky. Previously, it was about an hour in the real world to a minute in the astral plane. Now, it is about even. (Don't question it. This is the astral plane we're talking about.)**

 **The title of chapter five did change.**

* * *

 _Lance groaned as he opened his eyes. He was on his back, and Allura was seated beside him with one hand on his shoulder. She still had a slight glow, and when Lance lifted his head to look at himself, he saw that he had the same sort of aura._

" _Are you alright now?" Allura asked._

 _Lance nodded. The other paladins and Red were gone, and their absence had apparently taken the pain away as well, leaving behind only a dull ache in his bones._

 _Allura pulled away her hand. Lance's glow left, and Allura's dimmed dramatically. She pulled up her knees and pressed her forehead against them._

" _Allura?" Lance rolled onto his knees to kneel beside Allura. "What about you?"_

" _I will admit that I feel a bit drained," Allura said._

" _What happened?"_

" _This is, in essence, your part of the astral plane. If you do not want someone here, you can send them away. However, it strained the little quintessence you have left."_

 _Lance rocked back on his heels. He had felt funny every time that he had sent Red away, often everything starting to blur before coming back into focus with a harsh pain in his chest. This time, though, his chest just felt warm and light._

 _Remembering the glow his body had held when he woke up, he asked, "Did you share your quintessence with me?"_

 _Allura gave him a tired smile. "I didn't want to lose you."_

" _B-but, Allura! Your quintessence doesn't look so good, you could have killed yourself!"_

" _I have Blue."_

 _Allura angled her body, and Lance saw a thin line of blue leading to Allura. It still didn't look like enough to Lance, based on how pale Allura was getting._

" _Besides," Allura went on, probably seeing Lance's concern. "My quintessence will replenish when we return home."_

" _Don't wait for me," Lance said. "If being this far is hurting you, go back. I… I'll meet you there."_

" _If I leave now, we won't see each other again for a long time."_

 _Lance frowned at the strange wording, but Allura lifted a hand to point over his shoulder. Lance turned his head, then shuffled his whole body around in surprise._

 _The red star was_ right there! _It couldn't have been more than twenty feet away!_

 _Lance climbed to his feet, feeling a smile fill his face. "Come on, Allura! I know this will help!"_

 _Allura stood, although slowly and she didn't refuse Lance when he wrapped her arm around his shoulders. He could feel her rapid, fluttery pulse. Her head was low and when she raised it, Lance was alarmed to see tears in her eyes._

" _What's the matter, does it hurt? J-just hang on." Lance chewed his lip. "I can take you back, if you want that."_

" _You will need Red to go back," Allura said softly._

 _Lance looked past Allura's shoulder. "I don't even see Red anymore. He might have finally given up on me."_

" _I doubt it." Allura met Lance's eyes. "Whichever way you chose, I will go with you."_

 _Lance couldn't stop himself from glancing over his shoulder. The star was closer now, despite Lance not moving._

" _I want to get the star," Lance mumbled. "I feel like everything will be okay if I could just touch it."_

" _Then let's do it," Allura said._

 _Lance looked quickly back to Allura. "But if you're right, then I'll die. And you'll die!"_

" _I could be wrong," Allura said simply. "If the star is pulling you more than Red, maybe touching the star is the thing to do."_

" _I-I think it is," Lance said uncertainly._

 _Allura linked her fingers with his. "Then let's go and see what this star holds. Together."_

 _Lance beamed as he squeezed Allura's fingers. "Together."_

 _Lance and Allura took a step. All at once, Lance's pain just vanished. Allura gave a long exhale, her aura and Blue's trailing quintessence fading to nothing. She slumped against Lance, but managed a reassuring smile._

" _Take us there," Allura breathed._

 _Lance nodded firmly. In this direction, Allura would lose strength with each step, so Lance helped her walk._

 _As the pair moved slowly for the star, Lance realized that he could no longer feel Allura's pulse. But it didn't worry him. His pulse had stopped after the first step._

* * *

It was midnight, and Keith had given up on Red. The lion had flown off to his previous spot to crouch once again. On occasion, Red would stand and fly around the Garrison, but he never returned to Lance and wouldn't let Keith inside.

When Keith reached Lance's room, he found that the group had shrunk to Lance and Pidge's parents, Matt, the paladins, Shiro, Coran, Krolia, and the MFE pilots. Everyone but Shiro, Coran, Veronica, and Lief were asleep.

"Any luck?" Shiro asked, though he knew that any affect Keith had on Red would be obvious.

"He won't listen." Keith tiredly leaned against the wall. "How are Lance and Allura?"

"Their pulses never sped back up, but they are steady. Each breath has an average pause of ten seconds and their quintessence is slow," Lief said. "Their vitals are almost like an animal in hibernation."

Keith glanced at the girl rapidly flicking through a data-pad. Despite the late hours, she was as wide-awake as normal, as was Coran. Shiro and Veronica were slumping in their spots on the floor and a chair beside Lance.

Keith crossed his legs and sat on the floor, tilting his head to the side to rest on Krolia's shoulder. As long as nothing was happening, he figured he might as well sleep.

Keith was just dozing off when a panicked roar made him jolt upright. Blue was roaring and shifting back-and-forth. Her noise made everyone else wake up.

"Allura's quintessence!" Coran had to yell to be heard. "It's disappearing!"

Everyone was on their feet in an instant. Veronica shakily yelled that the same was happening with Lance. Blue gave a wailing roar, then fell silent too abruptly to be comforting.

"Quiznak!" Keith spat before rushing from the room again.

No one made a sound once Keith left, only watched the unconscious paladins. In unison, they both exhaled softly. Five seconds passed, then ten, then twenty.

"Lance!" Veronica yelled, shocking everyone into action.

Krolia bolted for a doctor. Shiro briefly wondered if his new arm could create a shock or something to get their lungs going. Pidge snatched the data-pad from Lief and rapidly scanned the data. Everyone else was either verbally panicking or simply staring. Lief expressionlessly asked if anyone knew CPR.

 _Beee-eee!_

The alarm made everyone freeze, eyes darting to the flat line of Lance's heart monitor. Coran almost dropped Allura's data-pad when he saw that her heart had stopped as well.

A doctor rushed into the room and took stock of the situation in an instant. He yelled for someone else, then pushed aside people to make room beside Allura and Lance.

Shiro watched as if through a fog as equipment was wheeled in and doctors attempted to get the pair's hearts going again. He lifted his arm and spoke numbly into the comm.

"Keith. What is Red doing?"

* * *

"Nothing," Keith retorted. "He's just sitting there. What's going on there?"

Shiro didn't respond, but he must have turned up the comm's sensitivity, as Keith could now hear other people. It was mostly a confused babble of orders and pleading, when one voice suddenly stood out.

"He's flatlining!"

All the other voices hushed, and Keith could only hear the doctors and nurses.

"We're losing her!"

"Increase charge and go again!"

"Nothing!"

"Nothing here!"

"Again!"

Keith dropped his wrist, and glared up at Red. "They're dying, Red! Is that what you want?"

Red shifted to his paws, roaring in the direction of the Garrison buildings. Keith stepped back, expecting Red to launch.

Instead, Red gave another roar that dwindled off. He slumped off to the left, then crashed to the ground on his side with enough force to knock Keith off his feet.

"Get up!" Keith yelled in a mixture of anger and fear.

Keith scrambled to his feet and ran around to Red's face. Red's eyes had lost their glow, the cyan highlights had gone dark. His jaw gaped open.

Feeling a surge of panic, Keith ran inside Red's mouth. No lights turned on to greet him and as he stumbled to the cockpit, the eye ports were dark. Keith sat and grabbed the controls, but had no response.

Keith fell back in the seat, distantly aware that the loud voices over the comm had stopped, replaced with sniffles and murmurs he couldn't make out. He lifted his wrist, wanting to know what had happened, when Shiro quietly answered the unasked question.

"We've lost them."

* * *

 _This was it._

 _Lance stared at the star that was at head level. It was slightly larger than his fist, and pulsed softly. One more step, and Lance could reach it._

" _Look, Allura," Lance said._

 _Allura, who had only grown weaker, managed to tilt her head back. She glanced at the star, then turned her full attention to Lance. Her smile was more of a grimace and her eyes shone with tears._

" _It's okay. Five more seconds," Lance soothed._

 _Lance took the final step. Allura fell completely limp in his arms, but Lance had never felt stronger. Keeping one arm tucked securely around Allura's middle, Lance let go with his other hand and reached out._

 _Before his hand made contact, something grabbed his leg and jerked backward._

 _Lance yelped as he was thrown off-balance. He fell on his side, managing to keep himself between Allura and the non-existent ground._

 _Instincts made Lance kick out, but he was still dragged several feet before he was released. He sat quickly up, balling his free hand and holding Allura closer._

 _For a moment, Lance could only stare at what is in front of him. He blinked, rubbed his eyes, and looked again._

 _It was Red. Much smaller, barely one and a half Lance's size. He had the form of a regular lion, but his fur is the same red as the robotic Red. He had a stubby start of a mane around his neck, with a thicker tuft on top. His eyes glowed yellow with ice-blue pupils, and there were glowing cyan markings on his face._

" _Red?" Lance asked._

 _Red rumbled and nodded. He stepped closer and raised a paw, but Lance kicked at the paw._

" _Just leave us be!" Lance ordered._

 _Red's ears flattened and his head dropped. He sat down with a huff. He acted… sad._

 _ **Don't go.**_

 _Lance yelped at the voice in his head. He stared at Red in shock. Had he just_ talked _to him?!_

" _That… that wasn't you, was it?"_

 _ **And I suppose there is someone else here besides us?**_

 _Lance's eyes narrowed. "I expected you to sound older."_

 _Red's head bobbed up and he gave a strange little chuffy roar that Lance realized to be laughter._

" _It's a reasonable assumption," Lance sniffed. "You are over ten thousand years old. You don't look it though…"_

 _ **Thank you.**_

" _That wasn't a compliment! And hey, why aren't you all gruff and pushy like Keith always is? Allura said the red lion is supposed to be the most temperamental and fierce of the lions."_

 _ **All of us lions have two parts. There is the part we were made to be -which you most often see- and there is the part that we have become.**_

"So you matured. Good for you _," Lance said with an eye roll. "Anyway, why are you here?"_

 _ **Isn't it obvious? I'm here to bring you home.**_

" _I am going home! I was almost done, but then you had to drag me back!"_

 _Red growled._ _ **If you had continued on, you would have died.**_

" _You don't think I can do this on my own."_

 _ **I know you cannot. Your quintessence is gone!**_

 _Lance scowled and hugged Allura closer. She still hadn't revived._

" _All I want… all I want is to do this, Red. Can't you even believe in me?"_

 _Red purred._ _ **I do believe in you.**_

" _Then let me do this!"_

 _ **Oh, my paladin…**_

 _Lance flinched._

 _ **You think that you must do everything alone to prove yourself to be capable. But in truth, you have already done that for the people that matter. For your family, team, and friends, you never had to prove anything. They all see that you are strong and worthy.**_

 _ **But y** **ou cannot do everything alone. Sometimes you need assistance. You are strong, but not even you can come back from death.**_

 _Lance sucked in a breath. "I'm dead?"_

 _Red dipped his head._ _ **For now. I can still take you both back.**_

 _Lance shook his head, but his and Allura's lack of pulse was suddenly terrifying. His body is too still with no pulse, and breathing felt chillingly unnecessary._ _He hadn't truly believed that he was dying until that very moment._

 _He closed his eyes. How could he do this to everyone? His family, friends, teammates… they must be horrified. And to think that he had dragged Allura into death with him._

 _Lance opened his eyes. "Okay. Bring us back. But first…"_

 _Red cocked his head. His ears had pricked forward at Lance's agreement, and he reminded Lance of a curious cat._

" _When we get home, would you just take Keith back as your paladin?"_

 _Red's head jerked back._ _ **And what makes you think I want him back?**_

" _Uh, well, then pick whoever you want."_

 _ **Why would I need a new paladin?**_

 _Lance gaped at Red. "You're joking, right? Look, I know you don't want me, but you don't have to pretend to care."_

 _ **Contrary to what you think, I didn't come to get you out of guilt.**_

" _Then why did you?"_

 _ **Because you are my paladin!**_

" _Since when? You never talked to me, never responded to me, you_ didn't come until Veronica almost died _! Why don't you just leave me alone, and pick someone you want! The war is over, you can have whoever you want!"_

 _ **I want you.**_

" _Just stop!" Lance ducked his head and took a deep breath. He wiped a strand of hair from Allura's face. "Blue gave me up. You never accepted me."_

 _ **Why do you think Blue chose you?**_

 _Lance turned his eyes up, but didn't move his head. "Because I was the first one in the pilot seat?"_

 _ **There were four other competent people there. She could have chosen anyone. She chose you. Even then, Blue could have given you up as soon as you returned to the Castle of Lions. Blue didn't want to give you up, even when Allura did take your place.**_

 _Red moved his face close to Lance's._ _ **Blue chose you first. Out of the five, she chose**_ **you!** _**If Blue hadn't chosen you first, I would have. But Keith needed me first.**_

" _So… let me get this straight," Lance said. "The only reason Blue gave me up, was because I was supposed to be your pilot?"_

 _ **All of the lions' pilots have long been known to us. With Blue separated from Allura, they couldn't bond. And by the time you found Allura… well, I think you know what would have happened if Blue chose a new paladin so soon after you.**_

" _I wouldn't have accepted you," Lance said slowly. He shook his head. "But if you always wanted me as a pilot, why are you so quiet with me? And what about that time with Veronica?"_

 _ **The other lions are more… expressive than I am. To go from Blue to me, I understand why you thought I was ignoring you. But I wasn't! By the time you were my pilot, you were competent to take on challenges by yourself.**_

" _As opposed to Keith, who needed you saving his mullet every other day." Lance chuckled a bit at that, then sobered. "But seriously. Veronica and I almost died."_

 _ **The connection between lion and paladin requires both sides to want it. Your insecurities have only grown since the day I accepted you.**_

" _No kidding." Lance couldn't hold back a sniff as realization set in. "I always thought that you only wanted Keith. I guess Veronica and me almost dying is my fault."_

 _Red shoved his head into Lance's chest. The boy jumped in surprise, then wrapped his free arm around Red's neck. His fur was surprisingly soft, and Lance couldn't resist briefly tucking his face into the mane._

 _ **The fault lies with me as well. You handled challenges so well, I thought you had overcome your inner battle. I did not realize how you felt until I could not come to you. I should have sensed your fears sooner. I am sorry.**_

 _Lance sniffed and laughed at himself as he wiped tears from his eyes. "I guess we both need to get better at communicating."_

 _ **Indeed.**_

 _Lance leaned his chin on the head of the lion, who in turn put his head on Allura's chest. The three stayed like that for a long time before Red finally pulled his head away._

 _ **We should go now.**_

" _Just one more question," Lance said as he readjusted Allura to stand. "Will we be able to talk like this again? Not even Blue ever spoke to me in words, never mind appear like… that!"_

 _ **We may not. This is my essence. Currently, my robot body is lifeless.**_

" _Oh. Well, I'm never going to picture you as anything else but like this, I hope you know."_

 _Red purred._ _ **I would have it no other way, my paladin.**_

 _This time, Lance smiled at the title. He shifted so that he was kneeling, and tucked his other arm under Allura's legs._

 _Red stepped closer, watching Allura closely. Lance froze, mind automatically switching to wondering if he was scoping out a new paladin._

 _But no, Red was watching Allura carefully and softly, making sure Lance didn't jolt her too much. He stepped forward and pressed his muzzle to Allura's face briefly, then stepped back._

 _The expression in his eyes, it was like… like the tender gaze of the AI King Alfor when Allura had to destroyed the corrupted memories._

 _Lance recalled Red's earlier words of, "what we have become." He whispered,_ " _King Alfor?"_

 _Red lifted his head and made eye contact with Lance, eyes glittering in mischief._

 _ **Take care of my Allura.**_

 _Red leaned in close to rest his forehead on Lance's._ _Lance gaped at the lion. After a moment, Red stepped back and angled his body._

 _ **Now climb on. We have spent enough time here as it is.**_

" _This is an awful lot to take in, Red. Wait, should I call you Red or Alfor? Or King Alfor? Majesty?"_

 _The lion chuffed._ _ **Red will do.**_

" _Oh, cool, then. Wonder if the others will believe me. Or if I'll remember this. Wait, you said to climb on? Like, onto your back?"_

 _ **We have a long way to go, and you won't make it more than a few steps in the right direction. Do not worry, I am stronger than I look.**_

" _Okay, just clarifying. Wouldn't want to hurt you or anything. You're sure you can take us both?"_

 _ **This is hardly a real body that can be hurt. And, yes, I can take you both at once. Now get on, our time is running short.**_

 _Lance grinned as he climbed onto Red's back, which was broad enough for Lance to lay Allura down. He hunched over with his elbows resting on either side of Allura and held onto Red's stubby mane._

 _ **Are you ready?**_

" _Ready."_

 _Red surged forward. Instantly, pain shot through Lance's body. He cried out and almost let go, but made himself hold on, even as the pain intensified every second. After ten seconds, he gave a cry of pain and tucked his chin against his chest. He felt tears leaking out of his eyes._

 _He couldn't let go, he couldn't! He had to hold Allura on Red's back, and he had to get out of the astral plane!_

 _Holding on was the hardest thing Lance had ever done. His heart was suddenly racing in his chest, his lungs felt empty of air until he gasped. Lance just wanted to let go, let Red go on..._

 _Wait, he wasn't alone anymore._

 _Lance lifted his head and panted out, "Red!"_

 _Red roared and his paws started to move even faster. More importantly, though, a red glow began to surround Lance and Allura. The pain eased slightly, but still had Lance panting._

 _Allura's eyes fluttered open. "Lance?"_

" _H-hang on," Lance managed. "Red's taking us back."_

" _What?" Allura turned her head and saw who she was riding. She faced Lance again. "Are you-"_

" _I'm sure. R-Red explained. I-It's ok-kay," Lance stuttered._

 _His chest was on fire now. Letting out a whimper, Lance let his head drop beside Allura's shoulder. He felt one of her arms wrap around his waist._

" _Don't worry, I have you," Allura said, already sounding at her full strength._

 _Lance smiled through his tears. Red had been right. He wasn't alone in this. As Red barreled through the astral plane, Allura took the role of holding them in place. All Lance had to do was breathe._

 _Breathe in. Breathe out. It had never seemed so hard before. Almost like if he forgot to try, he might…_

" _Lance!"_

 _Right, breathe! Lance gasped. He blinked his eyes clear, and saw Allura's worried gaze. He quirked up a smile at her, which she returned._

" _We're nearly there," Allura whispered, lifting her head closer to Lance. "Just hang on."_

 _Lance smiled at that. Hadn't he been saying that to Allura not long ago?_

 _Pain stabbed into his back like a knife, making his body tense and breath hiss out of his clenched teeth. He arched his back, eyes squeezing shut. Allura called his name, Red roared, and Lance just tried to breathe._

 _Breathe in. Breathe out._

 _Red's gallop evened out. His furry back vanished from under Lance, Allura's voice faded, and her hold on him let go. Lance felt as though he was falling, out of control and unable to move to try to stop himself. He couldn't even open his eyes to see where he was._

 _Breath in. Breathe out._

 _Nothing beneath him. He couldn't feel Red anymore. Allura was gone. Had she been left behind? Or worse, had Red not been fast enough?_

 _Breathe-_

 _He couldn't breathe! His lungs were flat and empty, his heart was still, he couldn't feel a thing! Panic surged in him, but he couldn't move to help himself. He couldn't open his mouth to call for help._

 _He couldn't breathe. Couldn't move. He still fell, but his body was frozen and silent._

 _Was it possible to die a second time?_

 _In a silent moment that took both a second and eternity, he heard a voice._

 _ **Lance. Wake up.**_

* * *

He wasn't falling.

He was flat on his back on something soft, but not as soft as Red's fur. A hand, more calloused than Allura's, clutched his. Voices cried over him, hopeless and fearful.

Suddenly, his body remembered what it needed to do. His heart gave couple weak thumps, then thundered back to life. His brain reminded his lungs that he needed to breathe.

Breathe!

Lance's entire body tensed up, making the people around him gasp. His mouth opened wide and sucked in a huge breath while his eyes snapped open.

His parents, Shiro, Pidge, Hunk, and Keith all watched him with bugged-out eyes and gaping mouths. Briefly, Lance thought that he wished he could have taken a picture, when his gasp of air hit his lungs and he choked.

Lance was quickly hauled into a seated position, and a hearty slap on the back that somehow reminded his heart and lungs to work together as he sucked in another breath.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

This was right. He was alive. Tears filled Lance's eyes, both in joy and the pain of his body returning to life. Red rumbled at the back of his mind, relieved at his paladin's awakening.

A full minute of coughing, breathing, and feeling his heart pound in his ears later, Lance was laid back down. While Lance finished getting his breathing under control, everyone just stared at him and Allura -who was luckily breathing fine. It was like they had seen a ghost.

All things considering, that was probably what they thought.

It was starting to get embarrassing, really. Even for Lance, who liked attention. Lance quirked up a smile at them.

"What," he rasped. "No clock party this time?"

* * *

 **A/N: Consider yourselves lucky. If we had been in April, I would have ended the chapter at the line "We've lost them," and posted it with the story set as complete. Only after a few days would I have posted the rest. But, nah, I decided to be nice this time.**

 **Also, one more chapter to go, which will be significantly shorter.**


	7. The Worth of a Paladin

**A/N: I think that everything that needed to be said, is said in this chapter... no promises on how natural it sounds.**

* * *

While Red did have a large store of quintessence, it wasn't enough to fully heal Lance. His body was badly emaciated and needed time to heal naturally. Still, after the first day of sleeping, Lance was conscious more often than the others had been in their first week. He wasn't out of bed for nearly a week, but in those brief moments he was wheeled or helped to walk, he had never felt stronger.

It was a week before Lance was alone with his teammates without any family. Not that he could blame them, or complain. It had been two years since he saw them, and five years for them. They had a lot to catch up on. Add in the fact that Lance had been literally dead for two minutes, and, well… Lance was surprised when the family listened and gave the team some privacy.

* * *

Lance watched the last of the family file out. Veronica was last, eyeing Lance like she didn't want to leave him, but she finally did. Lance turned to the others.

Allura was seated beside the bed, where she had been a lot since allowed back out of bed two days before. Pidge was scrunched up in a chair on the opposite side of Lance, shooting glances at Lances between taps on a data-pad. Hunk was at the foot of the bed, positively beaming at Lance whenever they made eye contact. Keith was standing between Pidge and Hunk, shoulders slightly hunched like he wanted to cross his arms but was resisting the old habit. Shiro stood beside the door, watching each of the paladins in turn.

Lance took it upon himself to start the conversation. "So, you are all probably wondering why I called you here."

"If you're going to say that you resign as a paladin, I'm sending you back to the astral plane myself," Pidge muttered without taking her eyes from the screen.

"Pidge." Surprisingly, it was Keith who spoke up. "Let him talk."

Lance smirked at Keith. "You're speaking on my behalf?"

"For the record, I'll be helping Pidge if you think you mention leaving the team."

"Let him tell us his decision before threatening him," Shiro said with a smile.

"Thank you, Shiro. The first thing I have to say is, Pidge, I will be staying." Quickly, before anyone could speak, Lance added, "Second… I'm sorry."

Pidge's fingers froze. Allura's hand tightened on his own, while the other three paladins raised their eyebrows. Lance took a deep breath, but Hunk spoke up before he could.

"No."

Lance gave Hunk a half-confused, half-teasing grin. "What?"

"You don't have to apologize," Hunk said firmly. "Everything you told us, has been there since since we found Blue. We should have noticed, and not just brushed it off."

"I always called you a goofball," Keith said. "I should have noticed before, and especially since I became the black paladin. A leader needs to be there for his team."

Shiro put his robotic hand on Keith's shoulder. "We both should have been."

Pidge finally put down her data-pad, and Lance saw that her eyes were shiny with tears. "We're a family, Lance. You could have told us how you felt."

"I think he did," Hunk said skeptically.

"He did try," Shiro said. "I'm sorry, Lance." He looked at Allura. "Thank you for bringing him back."

"I did not do anything," Allura said.

"No, _you just saved Lance's life_!" Hunk said.

"Um." Lance glanced at Allura. "She didn't convince me to come back."

Allura toyed with the edge of Lance's blanket. "In fact, if we are being honest, I allowed him to go on."

"To be fair, you were very supportive. You followed me to the death."

Allura smiled gently, and Lance flushed when he realized what he had said. He started to stammer for another way to put it, then turned back to his wide-eyed companions.

Shiro cleared his throat. "You told Coran this, correct? We assumed that you were in the astral plane too long for your limited quintessence."

"I am still trying to decide the best way to say it," Allura admitted sheepishly.

"You both," Pidge emphasized, leaning closer, "Willingly _died?_ "

Lance raised his hands defensively. "I didn't really think I was dying! Allura wasn't _sure_ the red star meant death, and I thought the star didn't mean anything. Although, now that I think about it, the star may have been Red's consciousness." Lance thought for a moment, then shrugged. "I was bored waiting for my quintessence to regenerate."

Keith pinched the bridge of his nose. He was mimicking Shiro's current stance, though Lance doubted he realized it at the time.

"We told you, that you were dying," Keith said slowly.

"I thought you all were just trying to fool me into letting Red help," Lance said.

Hunk gave a grudging nod. "Okay, yes, we would do that. But despite all of this, you still ended up letting Red bring you back home. What changed? Allura obviously didn't. No offense, Allura."

"None taken." Allura turned to Lance. "I will admit that I am curious about that myself. After I lost consciousness, I do not recall anything until I returned… to myself."

"Well… Red came and talked to me himself," Lance said.

Keith and Shiro's arms dropped. Everyone stared at Lance with varying degrees of confusion and disbelief.

"Red came to you, and you didn't kick him out again?" Hunk said.

"No, the thought kind of slipped my mind when he started talking to me."

"Hold up." Pidge was leaning so far to the side now, that Lance worried she would fall off the chair. "You keep saying that Red talked to you."

"Yes. Red actually talked to me, in words," Lance clarified.

"What did he say to you?" Shiro asked carefully.

Lance smiled in a mixture of joy and embarrassment. "He told me… he said I didn't need to prove myself. He helped me realize that I never needed to prove myself to the people who matter: my family and you guys. He told me that I was always meant to be his paladin, and that Blue only gave me up because Allura was meant to be hers. Red really wanted me as a paladin from the start. He just didn't communicate like Blue because it wasn't his personality."

Lance fell silent. The others' expressions now leaned closer to disbelief, and Lance was able to predict what Keith would say next.

"That doesn't sound like Red."

"Well, it was. Black was destined to be your lion, I think, so Red might not have gotten as close to you," Lance said with a shrug.

"That doesn't sound like any of the lions," Pidge furthered. "None of them have talked to us in words."

"None of them ever came to us in the astral plane in the shape of an actual lion, either," Lance said. "Red said it was his essence, and that his physical robot body was lifeless."

"Red did suddenly lose power just before you died," Keith said.

"You're saying it is because his essence went to you on the astral plane?" Hunk asked.

Lance nodded. "He was kind of cute, really. He didn't have a full mane and he had a young voice, considering he is 10,000 years old."

"Cute? Young voice? Pep talk? That definitely doesn't sound like Red," Keith said, frowning hard.

"That is what I first thought." Lance shifted to look at Allura. "But Red told me that the lions have two parts: what they were, and what they have become. I am pretty sure that if I had touched the red star, I would have become part of Red's essence. I would have been a part of him."

Allura nodded thoughtfully, but Lance could tell that she didn't get it. Lance was about to further the explanation when there was a yelp from Pidge, followed by a thud when she slipped to the floor. She popped right back up before anyone could move to help her. From the awe in her eyes, Lance could see that she had understood.

"You said the red star might have been Red's consciousness. Red had a voice and a vastly different personality. The only way those could all be possible, unless the lions have secrets we still don't know, is if Red has absorbed something to give him a personality."

"I guess. He didn't go into detail," Lance said.

"Quiznak."

Lance frowned. That hadn't been the response he was expecting. Then he noticed that Pidge was glancing at Keith, and remembered who Black's former and now deceased paladin was.

Well, that might make things awkward for Keith.

"Beside that," Lance said, wanting to just explain, "According to Red, when the lions' paladins die, their essence becomes part of the lion. I wasn't talking to Red. I was talking to-"

"My father?" Allura asked.

Lance nodded enthusiastically. "Yes! King Alfor convinced me to come back!"

Allura's eyes widened. "A-are you sure?"

"Yes. Completely."

"Did... did he say anything about me?"

" _Besides, 'take care of my Allura'?"_ Lance thought. That didn't seem proper to say with… witnesses. He leaned closer to Allura and murmured, "I'll tell you later."

"Wha-at?" Hunk said slowly, a grin slowly starting to build. "That is amazing! The paladins get to live on through the lions!"

Dread settled on Keith's face. "Not really…"

"Zarkon wasn't always bad," Pidge pointed out. "Maybe the uncorrupted part of him would be all that remained. Or, none, since Zarkon wasn't technically a paladin when Lotor killed him."

"I'd rather not be close enough to death to find out," Keith said, though there was no malice in his voice.

"I don't think it was because Lance died…" Pidge trailed off, then picked the data-pad back up to take notes.

Hunk leaned over to add to Pidge's notes. Pidge was rambling to Keith, who nodded like he knew what she was saying. Allura looked on, mind obviously elsewhere.

Lance smiled, eyes dropping to his free hand on his lap. With his recovered health, things were getting back to normal.

Although maybe normal wasn't quite what he wanted…

"Lance."

Lance started at Shiro's voice. He realized that the others had stopped talking. Shiro had his hand on Keith's shoulder.

"We're a team," Keith said slowly. "And a team will only fall apart if any of the members think they don't belong. Lance. It's been two years since we became paladins. I know we didn't -don't- always get along, but you are the right hand of Voltron, and my right hand in this team. You are invaluable, and irreplaceable. Never think that the team could survive without you."

Lance gaped at Keith. He blinked, then smirked. "Wow-"

"Don't make me take my words back," Keith said, finally crossing his arms.

"Yeah, don't ruin the moment," Hunk said with a laugh.

Pidge snorted, despite her efforts to cover her mouth. Allura started to laugh, and Lance joined in. Even Shiro chuckled.

"What?!" Keith demanded, crossed arms tightening.

"You should… you should have seen your face!" Lance said through his laughter. "Did it hurt, expressing emotions?"

Keith glared. "See if I ever give you a pep talk again."

But even Keith had started to smile. Lance shook his head as laughter continued to bubble out.

Telling the team how he felt. Keith giving encouragement instead of Shiro. Allura's hand on his while she smiled at him. It was so strange and new, but Lance could get used to it.

Maybe it was time to start a new normal.

* * *

 **A/N: ...well, I've had my say. Here's hoping Lance's insecurities and the reason why Red was so slow to respond is answered in season eight.**


End file.
